Field Day
by mutualAnimosity
Summary: This is my chance to get back at him. To humiliate him and his Uchiha pride. (Alternative title: Not Another High School Fic. Yaoi. SasuNaru. )
1. Chapter 1

Field Day (Alternative Title: Just Another High School Fic)  
I rush down the almost-empty main hallway of Konoha High School, past the few and scattered stragglers who are taking their time to reach their third period, and take a left to the side corridor where my own third period Biology class is situated. _Crap_, I think to myself. _I forgot to do the homework. Iruka-sensei's gonna get mad at me for slacking again. Or maybe just talk to me after class and make me feel guilty. Bluh_. Reaching the doorway of classroom 401-A, I barge in noisily just as the bell signaling the end of passing period rings, marking me tardy. Attracting stares from curious classmates and a slightly disappointed look from Iruka-sensei, I make my way to my desk near the back and sit down with a quiet thud. Ugh. That complete bastard! Why can't he just leave me in peace, for once?  
Don't worry. I'm not talking about Iruka-sensei. He's cool.  
I'm talking about the most popular kid at this school. The most popular, but also the most arrogant and aloof. I kind of don't get why someone like him would even become popular, seeing as how anti-social and condescending he is, but let be what is, I guess.  
I'm talking about Uchiha Sasuke, if it wasn't already obvious. He seems to take a special pleasure in personally making my life absolutely miserable. He also happens to be in most of my classes, including Bio, so combined with passing periods, such as the just-ended one, he has ample opportunity to antagonize me. He never does it in any sort of obvious way, oh no, but will "accidentally" trip me or bump me and make me drop something in the hallway and the like. It's actually the reason I was late to Bio today.  
I have no idea why he does these things to me, but I can definitely say that I hate him.  
I loathe him; I utterly despise him.  
And he detests me likewise.  
Suddenly, I am jolted out of my thoughts by Iruka. Oops, I've been zoning out again.  
"Naruto-kun? Could you please answer the question?  
"Can you repeat it, sensei?" I ask.  
"The question was, 'Which domain consists of prokaryotes whose cell walls lack peptidoglycan?'"  
"Uh..."  
Crap. This is ninth grade stuff and should be easy, but I've never really had a head for remembering scientific facts. I resume my speaking. "Uh... Is it... Bacteria?"  
"Incorrect. The correct answer is 'Archaea'", Sensei replies. Quiet snickers from around the room echo and reverberate inside my skull. I glance around, and, completely accidentally, make brief eye contact with Sasuke. He smirks at me. I frown back and sharply turn my head away from him.  
The noise of the classroom door opening ends the moment as a short girl carrying a stack or green papers steps inside. "Sumimasen," she says politely. "I've been sent by Tsunade-sensei to pass out these fliers to each of the third period classes, with instructions for the teachers to brief their students on the information written on them."  
Tsunade is the principal here at Konoha High. She's really big on school theme and competition days.  
Iruka smiles. "These are for Field Day?"  
"Hai. These are the info and event sign-up sheets."  
"Thank you, Miyako-chan."  
Stepping forward and taking the papers from her, Iruka turns to face the class. Miyako exits the room, presumably to get more papers since Iruka-sensei took them all?  
Sensei begins passing out sheets. They have a couple paragraphs of information on the front, and a sign-up sheet for different events on the back, which kind of defeats the purpose of saving paper and stuff because to turn in the form on the back you have to cut off part of the info on the front. But I digress.  
Suddenly, Iruka-sensei has a brilliant idea.  
"Hey, who wants extra credit?"  
Head perk up around the classroom. I pay attention, 'cos I need all the credit I can get.  
"I will give ten points extra credit to all who participate in Field Day. Twenty to those who who do three or more events."  
I'm so totally in.  
Iruka begins to elaborate on Field Day, explaining the need-to-know information and how each event works. I don't really pay attention, but what I gather from his briefing is that it basically consists of normal track-and-field events such as high jump and the hundred-meter, and it's in two and a half weeks at the end of the month. It's open to all students who have at least a 2.7 GPA. That's normal for school events, but I have a slight problem. With a 2.6, my GPA is not quite high enough.  
Well, I guess going to Field Day has been shot up in flames. I glance ahead over at Sasuke's paper (he sits two rows in front of me and a seat to the left) just to see what he's written down. It appears that he has signed up for the triple jump (funny, he never really struck me as a jumper), hurdles (also kinda strange) and the four-hundred meter. I copy them down on my paper even though I can't participate. If, through some twist of fate, I actually am able to go to Field Day, it'll be my chance to get back at him: I will simply beat him in all of his events. I'm pretty athletic, so it shouldn't be too difficult, right? If I'm especially lucky,  
Sasuke notices that I'm staring at him so I quickly look away. If this works, it'll be epic.

* * *

The bell signaling the end of class and the start of passing period rings. People around me begin gathering their things and heading out the door to their fourth periods, but Iruka holds me back for a few minutes.  
"Naruto, I want to talk to you about your performance in this class lately. Don't worry about fourth period; I'll write you a note for your next teacher. Naruto, your grade has been dropping steadily over the past semester. As your teacher, I care about you and want you to succeed in my class. I can tell you want to participate in Field Day. Do you have any ideas as to how I can help you better understand the curriculum?"  
I falter for a second. "Uh... I don't know."  
He scrutinizes me for a second, and then replies. "Okay. Have you tried tutoring?  
"No," I admit.  
"It might help. Here, I'll set you up with a student tutor and give you the information tomorrow, if it works for you. How does that sound?"  
"That's fine," I say. "Thanks."  
"It's nothing. Here, I have your note. Have a good Wednesday."  
He hands me a sticky-note with his name written on it. I take it and exit the classroom just as the end-of-passing-period bell goes off. _Good thing Iruka-sensei doesn't have a fourth period_, I think. As I walk to the end of the hallway and slip inside my math class, handing Ebisu-sensei my note, I sit down in my seat with a new confidence in my head.

* * *

So? What do you think? Should I continue this? Please review ^^


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
After suffering through two periods of agonizing torture disguised under the names of Ceative Writing and Literature, I approach Iruka-sensei as people are slowly filtering into Bio.  
"Ah, Naruto! I have the information right here. Give me a moment."  
I wait as he briefly hunts through his copious amount of papers and locates my tutoring information. "Okay, here it is. Your tutor will be a fellow student who will meet with you in the library at lunch on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Today is an exception, though; he'll meet with you today."  
At the mention of the gender pronoun, I look at him quizzically.  
"No, Naruto, your tutor is not a girl."  
In jest, I pretend to look exaggeratedly disappointed, the corners of my lips turning downwards in a large frown.  
Iruka-sensei smiles at me, and then continues his briefing. "Remember, to participate in Field Day, you need to raise your GPA by a tenth of a percentage. That shouldn't be too difficult. Try your best and you'll succeed!"  
He says that last sentence with an optimistic tone and a little thumbs-up gesture. I laugh slightly, and then thank him and turn around to make my way to my seat. Only then do I realize that I've forgotten something. "Oh yeah, Sensei? Who is my tutor anyway?"  
Looking back, I bet I could have predicted his line perfectly had I tried.  
"Ah, yes. Your tutor is Uchiha Sasuke. Do you know him? He's in this class."  
Indignation bubbles up inside my stomach and my fists clench involuntarily. "Iruka-sensei, it can't be him. Anyone but Sasuke, please!"

Heads turn and stare at me from around the classroom.

"Is there some sort of problem you have with him?"  
_Duh_, I think._ He's an ice-cold bastard and I fucking despise him!_ What comes out is slightly different, however.  
"Are you kidding? He hates me!" I respond loudly.  
Iruka appears to be initially startled by my vehement revelation, but then says after a slight pause, "Well, at the moment he's really the only person available, but if you have a problem with him..." He trails off, unsure of how to continue. Then, resuming his speaking after a momentary lapse, he says gently, "Look, Naruto, it's either Sasuke or nobody. I'd tutor you myself, but I doubt your schedule coincides with mine. Nobody else is available. So, will you take Sasuke or not?"  
Hm.  
Well, if I think about it, letting a stupid vendetta get in the way of my ultimate goal of humiliating Sasuke at Field Day is pretty idiotic of me. I mean, I need to improve my grade even if Sasuke isn't part of the equation. But I don't want Sasuke tutoring me! I protest mentally. Him as my tutor... I can see that escalating very quickly into something ugly and dangerous. It definitely won't work. Maybe there are options besides tutoring?  
I ask Iruka about this. But the options he gives (summer school, extra homework, a seventh period study hall course, etc) I refuse mentally almost as quickly as he offers them. Summer school obviously does not meet my needs because Field Day is in less than three weeks. Extra homework will probably just make my grades drop even more. A seventh period study hall doesn't seem too bad, but I know I won't be able to concentrate on homework and studying for the whole hour and a half because I get fidgety if I sit still for too long. And the librarian dislikes me for some reason.  
So, with all other options eliminated, tutoring it is, I guess.  
But Sasuke!  
I guess I'll deal with him.  
I guess.  
_Ugh_.  
I make it known to Iruka-sensei that I will, in fact, choose to do tutoring.  
He says, "Great, Sasuke'll see you in the library after fourth period."  
"Thanks," I reply, and walk to my desk.  
A brief glance in Sasuke's direction reveals his face plastered in a book, even though he was probably paying close attention to the whole conversation.  
Agh. Why him?

* * *

The rest of third period passes by without a hitch, thank the kamis, and I exit the classroom to head over to fourth period Trig with Ebisu-sensei. It briefly crosses my mind that I'm glad Sasuke isn't in this class. Almost unconsciously, I turn my head and warily scan for his head of dark hair among the students milling about in the hallway. He's not here.  
That's actually kind of strange, seeing as he left the classroom before me and he has to walk in this direction to get to his fourth period... Wait. Why do I know so much about his schedule? Momentarily scaring myself with this knowledge, my footsteps come to a halt._ It's probably because my brain considers him a predator or something, and he's already in five of my classes so the other two I needed to find out in order to strategically avoid him with my awesome but sadly non-existent ninja skills during passing period. _This explanation satisfies me, so I start walking again. _Did I literally just 'stop and think'? Wow._

A splash of pain courses down my spine and I almost jump half a meter in the air. Someone has poked me in the back. Really hard.  
"Oi! Naruto!"  
It's Kiba.  
"Kiba! What was that for!" I say, slightly miffed, as I rub my sore back.  
"To get your attention. You looked a little spaced out there."  
"Oh. Oops."  
Kiba and I start walking in stride since he's in my next class.  
"What has you thinking so hard? Anyway, did you do the Trig homework? I tried to get Shikamaru to let me see his but he said it was too troublesome and fell asleep at his desk."  
I chuckle at Shukamaru's antics. "No, I tried to do the homework but I didn't understand it at all and kind of gave up."  
"Dammit. I'll have to find Shino or something before class starts."  
"That's going to be hard."  
We reach the door of Ebisu-sensei's classroom and enter it. Kiba sits relatively near me, so that's good. Shikamaru normally sits to my left, but it looks like today is one of the days where he got sidetracked and is going to be late. Ebisu-sensei normally would mark late people tardy, but Shikamaru is an exception, I think, because he's late to math all the time but never gets detentions. It's probably because he's such a math genius that Ebisu doesn't care or something. He has a pretty high grade in this class.

The bell rings, a loud, grating screech that sounds like a broken fire alarm. Ebisu-sensei takes roll on his computer as stragglers slowly meander in, and I sigh and take my math papers out of my backpack. _Math_.  
I briefly wonder if Ebisu-sensei knows about the tutoring. He most likely does, seeing as Iruka probably told my other teachers about it so that they could check up on me or something.

The scraping of Ebisu's chair on the floor alerts me to the fact that he has stood up and is going to tell us something.  
"Class, take out your homework and pass it to the front. I have written a set of warm-up problems on the whiteboard for you to solve. Do them, please."  
Sighing again, I do as I'm told. _Math, _I repeat mentally_._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
My dread escalates with the every tick of the clock. Trig is almost over, and every second that passes is a countdown to lunchtime. And lunchtime means Sasuke and tutoring. I try to look on the bright side of things. _If I work my hardest during tutoring, I'll be able to end it sooner. And if I can end it sooner, then I won't have to deal with Sasuke as much. _I sound like Rock Lee._ And then I'll be able to participate in Field Day_.  
A quick glance at the clock reveals it to be five minutes until noon. Lunch is at 12:07 because Konoha High has a weird bell schedule. Twelve more minutes. I drum my fingers agitatedly on my desk, and I bet that if I were to look in a mirror, my face would looks slightly pained. Shikamaru percieves my nervousness and looks slightly worriedly at me from his seat, but I shake my head and mouth silently, _It's nothing_, and continue clock-watching.

* * *

My anxiety has built up to almost intolerable levels, so when the bell rings, I jump, startled, and knock my chair to the ground. The noise created is loud and clangy, and classmates stare at me and snicker. My face goes hot and red, but I ignore them.  
Gathering up my papers in a jittery manner, I look up at the board to see what the homework is. There's at least twenty problems, but I write them down and resolve to ask Sasuke about them without sounding like an idiot.  
As I exit the classroom, which is smaller than Iruka's, Kiba approaches me, dragging Shikamaru in tow. "What is it with you today, Naruto? You look like a cat clawed off your ass because you sat on it by accident."  
"It's nothing," I respond automatically. But Shikamaru sees right through my pretense and says bluntly, "It's about Field Day, isn't it."  
"...Yeah," I admit reluctantly. "I can't go because of my GPA."  
"Have you tried tutoring?"  
"That's what I'm worked up about."  
"Elaborate."  
"Iruka-sensei set it up yesterday, and my tutor is Sasuke."  
"The Uchiha?" Kiba juts in, scoffing. "That prick's got a stick so high up his ass that he has to be all arrogant in order to walk straight."  
"Yeah." I laugh. "I have to meet him in the library today. Right now, actually."  
"Well, scream if he tries to rape you or something," Kiba says jokingly. "I'll follow the sound of your voice in order to save your virginity."  
This even gets a chuckle from Shikamaru.  
"I'll do that," I assure him, playing along. "Anyway, I've gotta go. The Lord Prick Uchiha must not be kept waiting." I turn to leave, waving at them, and head towards the hallway that leads to the library.  
The library is a large, three-story structure that is several buildings away from Trigonometry. I don't go in it very often, but the times that I have I've always been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of books and the maze-like warren of random shelves and narrow aisles that are so easy to lose yourself in. It's quite fascinating, actually.  
According to Iruka, Sasuke is supposed to meet me here right about... now.  
His liquid black hair that resembles the backside of a duck stands out easily from the heads of the rest of the students who are finding their friends to eat lunch with. And of course, there's no ignoring the bunches of girls (and sometimes boys) that track him (and sometimes call out to or follow him) through the hallway. I'm pretty sure he has his own fanclub.  
As he nears me, I clench and unclench my fists and slowly breathe, attempting to calm myself down. It works for the most part, although there's still a hint of nervousness residing at the bottom of my heart.  
"Hello, Naruto," he greets in a pseudo-polite tone. At least that's what it sounds like.  
"Hey." My voice is equally level.  
"I believe I'm supposed to tutor you. Follow me." He motions towards the library's double glass doors, and in my opinion he sounds rather condescending. I hate it.  
I follow him into the building, up a back flight of stairs, and onto the second floor. It's very quiet and kind of cold because the air conditioning is on. There are scattered clusters of students studying at wooden tables, several of them on laptops or the library computers. Most of them look up, seeming to notice Sasuke, but their gazes pass over me like I don't even exist. Their faces all seem to say, What's Uchiha doing with that kid?  
I ignore them.  
Leading me to a secluded little bunch of small round desks near the back left corner, Sasuke beckons me over to an empty table where we won't be disturbed. There are tall bookshelves surronding us on two sides, and a wall on another. Sasuke pulls up a chair for himself, and I sit across from him. Neither of us even attempt to make conversation.  
The air almost seems to crackle with tension. I clench my teeth together slightly, and glare daggers him as he takes out a thin white binder with several papers in it and a ballpoint pen. I take out my stuff too, but my vision never strays from his face. I'm like prey, tracking the predator with my eyes so I know when to run. How does he control his emotions so well? He's completely expressionless.  
But he then notices that I'm staring at him (again) so I look away out of habit.  
"So, Naruto," he begins. I return my vision to him, his face a mask of secrecy. My heart pounds inaudibly inside my ribcage; the anticipation is overwhelming.  
"Yes?"  
"It says here that you have a B in Biology, a C+ in Trigonometry, a B+ in PE, a B- in Literature, a C in History, and a B in Creative Writing."  
I nod tersely.  
"To get a 2.7 GPA, you need to change one of those Cs into a B."  
I nod again.  
"You obviously need serious help in math and humanities courses."  
He says this all in a scathing monotone which annoys the hell out of me. It makes me seem like an idiot and oh so much lower than he is. I kind of want to scream or punch him. He pisses me off so much!  
But I restrain myself and resort to just nodding because if I say anything, it's not going to be pretty and will probably get me kicked out of the library. Did I mention the librarian hates me?  
If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all, I reflect with some amusement.  
"I'm going to give you an assessment to determine exactly how I can help you."  
It looks like he's going to say more but I cut him off. "I don't need an assessment. I just can't concentrate in a classroom setting because I get distracted easily. Fix that and my grades will go up."  
Now it's his turn to nod, and for a moment I think I've gotten out of doing it.  
"That may be true, but I'm giving it to you anyway."  
I sigh. Bastard.  
I take the sheet he's proffering. The assessment's only fifteen questions, and all multiple choice. Obediently, I begin bubbling in the answers.  
Sasuke's staring at me intently the whole time and it makes me squirm.  
I can't take it anymore. "Stop that."  
"Stop what?" he asks.  
"Staring at me!"  
"Oh."  
He turns his face away, a light pink tinge of embarrassment coloring his normally pale cheeks.  
Was this really happening? The Uchiha was blushing? Internally laughing, I take a mental picture before filling in the last two answers. He takes the paper from me when he sees that I'm done.  
"I'll assess this and give you the results by email tonight."  
"Okay..." I don't think he has my email, though.  
This hypothesis is proven true.  
"What's your email address?" he asks.  
I pause for a moment, wondering if I should actually give it to him. It could be a trick. I decide to trust him though, surprising myself. "It's red dot kyuubi dot 413 at kmail dot net."  
I jot this down on a scrap of paper for him and pass it across the table to place it in his extended palm. But my hand stops short. "Two conditions. One: don't give this to other people. Two: don't troll or spam me."  
He appears genuinely startled (Ha! More emotion!) at the fact that I think he would do something like that, but promises to follow my terms. I give him the paper.  
Then, on a random whim, I ask, "Can I have yours?"  
He appears to be initially surprised, then to muse briefly over this, and then to be in agreement. "Yes. But your conditions apply."  
I nod. He writes it down neatly on a lined sheet of paper, and hands it to me. "It's avenger_612. Also at kmail."  
I momentarily think evilly of how many of his fangirls would kill to have this, but I said I would respect his terms if he respects mine, so I push the notion out of my head before it can lead anywhere. "Thanks. Are we done for now?"  
"Ee. We can't do anything until I've graded your assessment."  
"Okay, then. Jaa."  
"Jaa. I push my chair out and gather up my papers and things in order to leave.  
Then, my stomach growls loudly. Shit.  
Sasuke smirks, but it seems less mean-natured than usual.  
"I see you haven't eaten yet, either."  
For an intense, excruciating second I'm afraid he's going to ask me to eat with him, but he doesn't and just leaves it at that.  
"See you tomorrow. Or, next period I guess." I smile politely and walk down the stairs and out of the library.  
Hm.  
Maybe Sasuke as my tutor won't be so bad after all.  
But I really doubt it.

* * *

Kmail does not exist. I made it up. (The k stands for Konoha).


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
I locate Kiba and Shikamaru by a tree near the library's entrance. Gaara and Neji appear to have joined them, eating their bentos silently. I wave and call out to them. "Hey, guys! Miss me?"  
They all look up at once, like a hive mind. The effect is kind of creepy. However, the spell is broken as I sit down next to them because everyone bombards me with questions. (Well, it's mostly Kiba, and Neji doesn't say anything at all, but the effect is the same.)  
"How did it go?" Kiba asks demandingly, "Shit, that makes it sound like a date or something. Ew."  
"It went fine, Kiba," I reassure him, since he sounds and looks slightly worried, "I admit I almost punched him in the face a couple times, but otherwise nothing happened.  
"Okay, good. He didn't try anything, right?"  
I sigh. "No, Kiba. My virginity is intact."  
"Even better."  
The group and I spend the rest of lunch chatting, with Shikamaru occasionally making a witty remark while Neji observes silently and still, like a sentinel. I eat my instant ramen in peace, only disrupted by the occasional question from Kiba or Gaara.

After the final bell rings and school ends for the day (it all went smoothly, thank the kamis), I head towards the section of the school where the principal and counselor offices are to tell Tsunade-baachan that I'm leaving. (She's actually my legal gaurdian. Long story). I don't have a phone, or otherwise I'd just call or text her instead of walking halfway across campus.  
I wave like an idiot in front of her office window until she notices me, and then she smiles and waves back to signal that she knows I'm leaving. Flashing a thumbs-up sign, I turn around and saunter off.  
The walk to my apartment is only a few blocks (I'm lucky to have one so close to campus), and I trudge up the driveway and three flights of stairs, fumbling for my keys. I live on the third story of the apartment complex, and there's no elevator, which is annoying. My own apartment kind of small, and the carpets are a hideous shade of beige, but I make it work, and my neighbors are quiet, for the most part. Half of the rent is paid for by Tsunade-sensei, while I work a part-time job to pay for the rest.  
I let myself in, the hinges of the red front door squeaking, and immediately allow my heavy backpack, laden with binders and textbooks, to fall to the (ew, beige carpeting!) floor. My living/dining area is austere in decor and furnishing, but it's functional and not too messy. An empty ramen container sits on top of the low wooden coffee table in front of my worn but cushy sofa. I enter the kitchen to the left to boil some water, then exit and follow the short hall to my tiny bathroom and single bedroom. My double-sized bed is unmade and has a strange brown stain on the comforter from the time I accidentally spilled ramen on it while eating in bed. My (admittedly cheap) laptop, which is charging at my desk, bleeps, so I open it and check to see what it is. It appears to be nothing important, so I ignore it, but, since the computer is already on, decide to speck my email to see if Sasuke has sent me my assessment results yet.  
After logging in, it appears that he has. Once opened, the message reads,  
"Hello Naruto-  
I have graded and looked over your assessment. It appears that you are a more visually-inclined and kinetic learner; thus, I will utilize this information in my tutoring methods. Please meet me in the library again tomorrow at the same place and time for your next session.  
- Uchiha Sasuke".  
It all sounds so formal that I can't help but laugh. So, I reply with a succinct, "Okay, thanks," but add a P.S. at the end of the message.  
"Okay, thanks.  
-Naruto  
P.S. You don't need to type so formally, teme! It sounds all forced and prissy."  
I hit send and peruse my other emails, of which there are two. Kiba has sent out a group message to me and several others about homework. Gaara has already replied, but I ignore it for now.  
The second one is from Haruno Sakura. She's a close childhood friend of mine. I've known her since second grade, and back in junior high I used to have a really huge crush in her. Like, mega huge. However, after repeated (but polite) rejections, and the fact that she only had eyes for the Uchiha, I was kind of forced to get over it. So now, in high school, she's almost like a sister to me.  
Her message reads,  
"Hey Naruto~. Sorry I haven't seen you at school the last two days; I've been sick. But whatever. I've heard through the grapevine that Sasuke-kun is tutoring you? Please reply. ^^"  
I smile, and respond to her request. "Yup. More information to follow when you get better."  
I send that message too, and am about to log out of Kmail when I notice that Sasuke has replied to my message. "I write like that because I want to, usuratonkachi. P.S. You look cute when you smile."  
Wait what.

* * *

Sorry for the shorter chapter, but I just HAD to end it there.


End file.
